Venezia!!

Rolling off the lagoon as I speak. Spent 3 days here in Venice with Mom and Dad and it was soo beautiful. Once again, being in a city so immersed in the water culture made me feel very at home. Plus, the weather was great (until now, it just started to rain as Mom and Dad were walking me to my train—they have no umbrella! Mom’s poor hair will poof!) It was nice being in a place with out cars and the bustle of city streets. Even though I was in a touristy spot, it felt more calming because you could always get lost (literally, and quite often) in the narrow alley streets. So quaint though.

Mom picked another great hotel. They even gave us breakfast in bed this morning!! I woke up to a basket of donuts, croissants and rolls being placed next to me on the table, as well as fresh cappuccinos and orange juice. Of course, they don’t forget the Nuttella! And cheese J It’s also in a college town type of lagoon, so lots of students and cheap eats in our area. It was refreshing. I had a HUGE bruschetta the first day we arrived, as big as a pizza.

We saw some sights right away, because we couldn’t really tell how navigating the city would go. We began with a water taxi ride (it’s like the bus system, with numbers and routes and stops, but all in the canals! So cute.) throught the Grand Canal of Venice. Not the biggest canal, but the most important because it winds through so much of the city. Saw lots of the palaces of important rich families and people, like Napoleon Bonaparte. Also, saw places where they filmed movies like Indiana Jones and The Italian Job. Cool to put into perspective. 

Rialto Bridge.

 

Pretty Venice.

Venice.

Cathedral.

The original 4 horses from the Basilica di San Marco.

We decided the main sights to see were near the Piazza San Marco. This is a plaza where in some old Audrey Hepburn movie (I think, or one of those famous ladies from that generation), the pigeons fly everywhere. There were still, to this day, TONS of pigeons and people were actually holding them and taking pictures! I was completely grossed out. I would walk through there with my jacket around my head as a shield. The Basilica di San Marco (Saint Mark) was incredible. I know I’ve seen about 100 churches by now in Europe, but this one was special. It was remodeled after the Twelve Apostles Church in Constantinople. It was finished way back in 1094. So, on top of being so old, it had amazing architecture. It was incredibly exotic, with lots of “treasures” that people gave as gifts from abroad. The doge (like a king, sort of) would command that ships from abroad always bring gifts to this church as they enter the city of Venice. The view was also incredible from the top of the Basilica.

We next hit up the Doge’s Palace. It used to house all the former Doges of Venice, and all of the court rooms and government rooms were there. It was interesting to learn that while the Doge was pretty much the king and leader of Venice, he never really had an legislative power. Or made any major decisions. Or even really did anything at all of major influence. The only thing that really impacted the people was when he died, because they would shut down everything in Venice to pay respect to the late Doge. Of course, this time period wouldn’t last long of mourning or else the people couldn’t do anything because the city was shut down! So, they would choose a new one pretty fast. 

Anywho, the Palace sits right next to the Basilica di San Marco, so it was also a very big place to hit up on a ride via water into Venice from abroad for sailors. This palace is also where the Bridge of Sighs leads to the prison. The Bridge of Sighs was replicated in Cambridge, England, so I really wanted to see this thing. Of course….it was all covered up and under construction except for one little portion. And what kind of tarp covered it?? One with an ad. Of an American actress,Julianne Moore.  We visited the Palace, we got to go through the Bridge of Sighs. This bridge linked the courtrooms to the prison, as mentioned, so prisoners would supposedly look out it’s windows over the lagoon waters, and sigh their last breath of freedom before facing the darkness of prison. It was named this during the Romantic Period, of course. It was cool seeing the prisons. Very old, very basic but big cells.

Bridge of Sights, featuring Julianne Moore.

View from a hole in the wall of the Bridge of Sighs.

View from the Rialto Bridge.

Fam.

We looked for a place to eat dinner from my guidebook that first night, but since it’s really hard to navigate through the street names in Venice, we figured we were too far and too hungry to try the far out local eateries. So, we found out about the “Oldest Restaurant in Venice” and headed toward there. Why not see some history? On the way, we ran into a young woman named Kristen. She’s from the States and lives in Denver, CO and is a medical sales rep. Is originally from Ohio, but it’s okay, she says she’ll never go back, so we invited her to dinner with us J She was originally supposed to be in Italy with her mom for a week, but her mom’s passport had issues, so she had to cancel on Kristen at the last minute. Kristen was on her plane heading over here when her mom called her with the news, so she came anyway. We got to the restaurant, all quaint on the outside and near the fish market so we thought it was okay. Then we walked inside. And instantly, I felt like I was in a trap. It was very stuffy, both figuratively and literally. It was too quiet too. And of course, I have already lost my daring appetite for seafood for some reason, so nothing on the menu filled with the local seafood cuisine appealed to me. In the end, I found a good asparagus ravioli. And that’s what it was. It was…good. Felt bad about my poor attitude, but I think it was because I had been so spoiled by these great restaurants we found in Rome and Florence. And of course, Kristen ended up being great company. Now have another place to stay in Denver when I visit everyone! Ha.

We spent today just roaming the streets and trying to get lost. We started late after our breakfast in bed, and worried ourselves awhile about Mom and Dad’s flight situation this weekend with all that volcanic ash screwing up Europe before heading out for the day. We found a nice church, took some great pics of the towns and did some shopping. We stopped for a lunch of fruit and a bottle of wine along a canal and relaxed in the sun. SO NICE. Did some major people watching. At one point, I was sitting alone near the water, the whole bottle of wine and my cup next to me, as I was writing a post card. Mom and Dad were on a nearby bench, waiting for the person next to them to leave so I could have room, so basically, it looked like I was an alcoholic and was sitting there, writing postcards with a whole bottle of wine to myself. I got lots of weird looks. 

Breakfast in bed :)

Laundry in the sky.

Strawberries and wine for lunch!

Bench sitting time.

Time for gelato.

Pic.

We rode a gondola this afternoon. Expensive, but we got a good deal because we had literally run out of enough cash and were nowhere near a bank when we found this guy. He was great. Umberto was his name. Had waited 10 years to become a gondolier. Guess they really aspire to being one here because the job seems to be passed down through families. Also, we found there is quite an art to building gondolas. And all the gondolas are painted black because over history, it was thought to be the only fair way to not make anyone’s stand out more than another’s. They only get to decorate them on holidays.

On the gondola, in front of the Academia Bridge.

Umberto got a cell phone call while being our gondolier.

Canal closure.

We headed to the local’s area for dinner tonight. The restaurant we wanted wasn’t opened yet. We had to eat early though because I had a night train to catch, so we found another place along a canal. And oh shux, we had to eat dinner next to a canal in Venice tonight. Gosh, I’m so spoiled. Had my last official Italian gnocchi for awhile. Still didn’t beat that one place in Florence….

Dinner, yum.

So now, I sit on my overnight train to Vienna, Austria. Eventually tomorrow, I will make it to Prague, Czech Republic. I have to change train stations though and catch my next link while in Vienna…hopefully, I will find the other station in time because I only have an hour in between!! Got me a window seat though J

Meanwhile, my parents are back in Venice, worrying their cute heads off about their flights tomorrow. All this volcanic ash business over Europe has most airports closed, and most flights cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Mom and Dad are supposed to fly back to LAX with a layover in Zurich, Switzerland tomorrow. Their flight from Venice to Zurich is still going, but all flights out of Zurich are postponed, or cancelled, including theirs back to LA L Sooo they probs will be in Venice again tomorrow, or somewhere in Zurich till they can get out of Europe. Kind of really really scary situation. Or just inconvenient. However you want to look at it.

I’m supposed to meet my friend Karina in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday after I visit Prague. She’s currently stuck in London until Monday probably, and has been there for over a day for her layover from California. Her mom lives near Warsaw, so we were going to start a 2 week traveling sesh from her house starting Tuesday. Now, I don’t even know if she’ll be back to Warsaw by Tuesday, and on top of that, Poland’s airports are shut down. Sooo that means I will be battling people for train reservations into Warsaw once I try to make them in Prague tomorrow. On top of THAT, the late Polish president’s funeral is sometime this week. Soooo, lots of people are trying to come into Poland—Warsaw of course—at the same time that Karina and I are trying to get in. Crazy crazy mess out here. I heard on the news tonight too (we even had CNN in our room!!) that this volcanic ash is just going and going…it will continue but no one knows when it will stop, or blow or whatever. I may not even get to fly out of Berlin in 3 weeks!! Crazy time to be backpacking here in the heart of Europe. Good luck to everyone out there, and be safe!!

Now for some good ol’ sleep because I need to get through this 18 hour train –travel period somehow! And my two latest People magazines from Mom will only last so long.

Just worried for Mom and Dad….